Customer Reviews

Thailand Artists Awarded Internationally

Although never short on talent, Thailand’s artists have not often been showered with international awards for their many creative offerings in the dance and theatre realms — but that is about to change.

A flood of awards is about to wash over the country’s performers, with 12 renowned critics gathering to establish an equivalent to the Western world’s renowned Tony Awards, backed by unprecedented international support.

Art and theatre critics have gathered to form an association named "Chomrom Wichan Sinlapa Kan Sadeng", and after submitting an application to the acclaimed 57-year-old International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC), they were unanimously granted membership at the IATC World Congress held in March last year in Warsaw, Poland.

Now in the spotlight as Southeast Asia’s first national association of theatre critics, the group — which will be known as the International Association of Theatre Critics -Thailand Centre (IATC-TC) — is preparing to hand out awards to Thailand’s hottest theatre and dance companies for productions that were first shown in Bangkok between 1 January and 31 December 2012.

The presentation takes place at the Bangkok Culture Centre (BACC) and is supported by the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture. Among the accolades will be a Lifetime Achievement Award for arts performer, educator and supporter Patravadi “Khru Lek” Mejudhon to reward her constant artistic contributions to Thai society. Khru Lek has already confirmed her attendance and acknowledged the honour of receiving such recognition.

As the ASEAN states prepare to launch into an economic union, such internationally accredited awards offer long-overdue recognition of Thailand's creative talent. Regional arts events have been occurring more frequently, notably the India-Asean Residency that took place in Darjeeling in 2012, which included the presentation of new pieces by 20 artists from various Asean states. This was followed by the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) “Merging Metaphors” exhibition that included work from two Thai artists, Thawul Praman and Nataphon Na Nakorn.

The 11 categories open for IATC-TC awards presentations include Best Movement-based Performance, Best Director, Best Performance by an Ensemble, Best Art Direction, Best Musical and Best Book Written for a Musical.

To add interest as well as excitement, the critics will actually read their reviews on stage before handing out the various awards.

The event has received a highly positive response from the Thai artistic community and is seen as an important showcase for the talent-rich nation that will also help promote Thai art and theatre across the region and the world.